Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a great weekend.  We had a pretty good weekend here.  Yesterday Sharmi was feeling well enough that we were able to go to church again.  And in the evening we had a big party with some new friends, old friends, family and work associates.  We were celebrating Dean’s 41st birthday.  This was our first party in our new house.  It felt great to feel like we are starting to have a life instead of just survive.   We will be gone much of December, so I put Christmas up already.  I also needed the festive feeling that Christmas lights and nativities bring into a home.  And since I have been listening to Christmas music for more than a month to cope with the lack of sun, it didn’t really feel too early for Christmas.    By the time the party ended and we got Sharmi to bed it was after mid-night, but she had a wonderful time playing with the girls.  I am amazed and how well she plays with older children.  She had a blast!  (Other then falling on the floor and pulling a chair on top of her, which resulted in a bump on the front and back of her head.) 

I was just looking at the pictures that are posted on the web of Sharmi during delayed intensification.  It is amazing that I have already forgotten how hard those days were.  Even when we are going through it the reality doesn’t always hit home.  I remember walking into the bedroom where Dean and Sharmi were sleeping shortly after she lost all of her hair, and I was shocked to see that my little girl was bald!  It hit me in the heart as if I had just learned for the first time that she had cancer.  I just stood there and watched them and cried.  It might sound funny, but the most comforting phrase that people have said to me these last several months is, “I can’t even imagine what you are going through.”   No one lives this pain more than Sharmi and I but it still doesn’t seem real to me sometimes.  There are times that even I can’t imagine what I am going through.  I thank God for numbing it for us so that we can continue to get up each day and do it again.  We can face the harder times because some of the past nightmares are dimmed by the fog. I am so grateful to Him.

Thank God that there are times that aren’t so hard.  I am pleased to report that last week got better.  We went to the doctors on Tuesday and Sharmi’s blood count were up to 1200 so they started her chemo again.   However, since she was still a little low, they only started her on 1/2 of the previous dose.  We will find out how well she is doing with it tomorrow when we go back in.  

My mastitis is doing better.  The antibiotics didn’t seem to do much for the mass, so I have been putting a charcoal compress on it for the last several days and it seems to be working.  The mass it getting smaller.  It is a big relief for me.

Chantel is growing like a weed.  She isn’t even 3 months old yet and her 3-6 months cloths fit without much room to spare.  When I weighted her a week ago she was 15 pounds.  She is getting more interested in life, and is starting to coo and laugh.  She still appears to have gotten a recessive “mellow gene.”  We are very grateful for this as well.  However, having said that, she has been crying for the last 15 minutes.  Dean is wearing out, so I better run. 

Good night,

Cheris